Time Away
by CeeDen
Summary: One shot. Bella needs time away from Edward. He doesn't give it to her ; B/E AU/AH


Time alone - away from my job, away from my friends, away from my life. I picked up the newspaper and in the other hand sipped my coffee. Turning my attention to the entertainment section, I picked out a movie, the longest one listed on the page, and smiled. A dark, quiet room where it was just me and the screen. No phone calls, no emails, no one to answer to. No Edward.  
I put down the paper, finished my cup and made my way to my bedroom. My favorite jeans were folded on the shelf in my closet, and I grabbed them, to pair with a red henley t-shirt, the one I wore the night we met. I slipped into my outfit, and picked up my purse, and went out the door. I drove over to the theater. I parked and walked towards the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a silver Volvo, like his.  
_Stop it. He's not here. Stop thinking about him, just let it die already. He's not worth it._  
I shook my head and entered the building.  
"One please," I said to the teenage boy at the counter, and slipped him a ten dollar bill. He handed me my changed and I walked away just as he told my to enjoy the show. Single-minded, I went to the concession counter and bought a drink. Beverage in hand, I made my way to the dark theater, and took a seat in the back. The theater was near empty and I put my feet up, watching each person walk through the door and find a seat. In walked a tall, dark haired man, about six foot, slightly over weight... it was him.  
My heart jumped into my throat. I looked away quickly, hoping he wouldn't notice me. He took a seat, in my row, at the very end.  
It wasn't long before my sideways glances met his. Our eyes locked and he shot me a smile. I turned away from it and focused back on the movie.  
_Damn, all I wanted was an afternoon by myself._  
Without another sideways glance for a good while, I felt movement in the seat next to me. I looked over and there he was, hair in his eyes, looking right at me.  
"What are you doing?" I whispered angrily.  
"Watching a movie," he responded, and leaned towards me. I looked away, my face red with anger. The audacity! He put his arm around me and spoke into my ear, "How are you?"  
"I'm watching a movie," I retorted and moved away from him.  
"I miss you," he said.  
"Fuck off," I whispered, and I sipped my drink. I paid as little attention as I could to him, even though he was all I could think about. It had been months since he had dropped me, months since we talked and now, here he was, sitting next to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and rubbed my neck. My body reached to his touch, softening, relaxing, leaning into his.  
"Talk to me," he said. "I know you miss me. I'm sorry about everything. I wanted to return your calls, I just-"  
"This is SO not the place," I whispered in a stern tone and he nodded.  
The movie ended quickly, and I had no idea what had happened. My mind was numb, stuck on the fact he was right next to me. The lights came on as the credits rolled and everyone filed out of the theater. We sat there, alone, staring ahead at the black screen.  
"Can we talk?" he asked, turning to face me.  
"About what? You made it pretty clear that you didn't want to talk to me."  
"Let me explain."  
"You didn't let me explain."  
"I know. I was just.. I was wrong. Just please, come talk to me. I'll buy you a Starbucks."  
"You know you don't deserve this, right?"  
"I know I don't. I just.. hope you'll give me a few minutes to talk it out."  
"Fine," I said, annoyed, and got up. He followed me out of the theater and to the Starbucks located just a few stores down in the mini mall. He went right to the counter and ordered my favorite Frappuchino, and brought it to me at the table I chose in the far back corner. "Thank you."  
"Thanks for sitting with me, and listening."  
"Go ahead."  
"I'm sorry I never returned your calls. I'm sorry I ignored you."  
"Why did you? It never made sense to me."  
"I was upset at you, upset at what you said to me, upset at what happened."  
"I said things I didn't mean, I admitted that a long time ago."  
"I know. I got all of your messages. All the ones where you apologized. The ones where you wanted to talk, I just.. was confused, I didn't know what I wanted, I just.. freaked out."  
"Why wait? Why wait so long? I mean, we ran into each other accidentally. It's not like it was planned."  
"I know, but as soon as I saw you, I knew it would be the perfect time to talk to you about it," he explained and reached his hand out to cover mine. I pulled away before he could get to it and he frowned.


End file.
